


Borderline

by ichigoangel



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, always with the angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-20 21:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ichigoangel/pseuds/ichigoangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is fighting titans when he runs out of energy and his regeneration halts, Levi notices almost too late, and almost loses Eren. Lots of angst, there will be lots of fluff by the end of this, so in the end it's yet another hurt/comfort fic, woohoo~ (Prompt submitted to me by levi--rivaille on Tumblr!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pain

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off of a prompt I was submitted on Tumblr by levi--rivaille! Credit goes out to them for coming up with such a lovely prompt. <3  
> There will be three chapters. Chapter 1 is what physically happens, Chapter 2 is basically Levi's reflection on their experiences together, and Chapter 3 is what happens when Levi is finally allowed to see Eren again.

Eren’s regenerative ability as a titan could only go so far. He could withstand a great deal of damage while in his titan form, but nothing has the ability to last forever. Eren could take down roughly twenty titans before struggling in battle. Today was no different; after winning his battles against twenty-two titans, he hit the barrier of his own power. 

Exhaustion rippled through Eren; he could even feel it pulsing through his human body. 

Today’s mission had a fairly simple objective; kill as many titans as possible with as few casualties as possible, safely making it back to the wall before sundown. The day had overall been pretty successful with only about an hour to go until the sun would set. Of course, soldiers died- there would never be a mission without casualties; that was simply too much to ask for. Titans were a great deal more powerful than humans, after all. As always, the lives that had been lost could not yet be mourned; that would come once the soldiers were once again within the confines of the walls. 

One member of Levi’s Squad had lost their life in the struggle that day. Levi had stayed by his comrade’s side until the soldier had officially passed on to the other side. Happy to die with his admired leader by his side, the soldier had died with a tranquil smile on his face; he was at rest. 

Because of the fact that it was near the end of the day, more soldiers were beginning to struggle, some winning their final battles before retreat, and some losing. Levi had his hands full; at this point it was more his duty to protect his comrades than to kill titans off on his own. The last time he had spotted Eren, he had been holding up pretty well. He had guessed Eren had dealt with about twelve titans when he last laid eyes on him. However, that had been a while ago. Levi assured himself that Eren was fine; he couldn’t exactly leave his own position right now. Titans surrounded him at every angle, and all he could do was fly and slash in time to save the life of another soldier. _I’ll come for you soon,  
Eren. Don’t do something idiotic before then, for god sakes_. Levi thought to himself as he nodded slightly to a grateful-looking soldier (She had just about given up hope and had stopped bothering to fight before Levi came and killed the 7-meter titan in a single blow). Levi was still far away from Eren and titans were sprawled out in the space separating the two. 

-x-

Agonizing pain ripped at Eren from every angle. Pain was all that Eren could feel anymore. He had become used to keeping consciousness in his titan form; a miracle that almost seemed to be a curse at that particular moment. Eren was doing his best to fight off the titans that had begun to cling to him, to no avail. His power had simply run out; his movements were sluggish and had no effect against the other titans. They bit at him, and each wound sent a burst of crippling pain through Eren’s titan body and in turn, his human body. He cried out loudly, his own human scream being drowned out by the force and volume of his titan cry. He prayed that Levi would notice the cry and come for him; this was his only hope now. As much as Eren had wanted to believe he was untouchable, in no real danger of having his life taken away, he knew that there was a very good chance that his battle could be his last.

Mortality was a truth Eren didn’t like to believe in. If anything, he had never really bothered to think about it before. He was going to destroy all of the titans; there was no doubt in his mind about it. He couldn’t just die; that was impossible. His determination would bring him victory, no matter what. He had never bothered to try and make sense of how truly fragile human beings are. If he died right after reaching his goal, so be it. But he couldn’t die before then. 

Eren tried to swing his fist at one of the titans that was clinging on his shoulder; the blow landed but it did nothing. One cannot make an empty cannon fire, after all. Power could not come out of something that had no power left. Eren’s efforts at this point were all in vain. The titans tore at him just as brutally as they would any human; there was no doubt that they understood that he was a human in a titan’s body, and they were undoubtedly trying to find their way to the human inside the titan’s flesh. Eren closed his eyes; he could fight all he wanted but it was hopeless. He could feel himself falling into unconsciousness that he realized he may never have wake up from.

-x- 

Levi heard the piercing shriek that was undoubtedly Eren’s. A flicker of panic flashed through Levi’s eyes before he regained total composure. Levi knew that Eren was in trouble;  
Eren wouldn’t make such a noise unless it was his final plea for help. The Corporal resented the fact that he had been unable to get to Eren sooner, unable to help him out so that he wouldn’t have to face the end of his regenerative abilities. But now was not the time to ponder what actions could have been taken; he needed to get to Eren as fast as he possibly could. With the help of his own horse and the 3d gear, Levi had arrived at Eren’s location in a matter of minutes. About five titans were merrily tearing away at Eren’s titan flesh, searching for the person hidden within. Levi could immediately tell that Eren’s regeneration had stopped long ago, and there was a thick screen of steam surrounding them. 

Through the steam, Levi noticed that Eren’s eyes were completely closed; he must have lost consciousness both as a human and as a titan. This was not a scenario in which Eren had lost control of himself; it was simply a scenario in which Eren was powerless in both forms. 

A ripple of fear went through Levi. The way things were going gave way to the very realistic chance that Eren wasn’t just unconscious. After all, Titan Eren was no longer making any sort of movement. 

Levi immediately used his 3d gear to hook onto the back of one of the titans clinging to Eren, a five meter class that had attached itself to Eren’s leg. Levi slashed at the titan’s weak spot before he had even had a chance to land on the titan, and was soon moving onto the next. He made quick work of the remaining four titans, always striking with perfect precision. Once the titans were out of the way, he hooked onto the back of Eren’s neck. He knew that he would have to cut Eren way from his titan body himself. Being careful not to hit Eren, he cut through the flesh on Eren’s neck. His uniform soon became filthy as he swiftly cut Eren out of the flesh that had been connected to him. 

Eren was barely breathing. He made no response to Levi’s touch, no response to Levi’s call of “Eren”. Levi made an attempt to shake him awake. Again, no response. 

Once Eren was completely free from his titan body, Levi gathered him in his arms and got back on his horse, making her gallop as fast as she could possibly manage. His only focus now was getting Eren back to the walls. He had made sure to give the command to retreat back before he went to get Eren; he knew that once he was with Eren that Eren would capture all of his attention. Levi’s face was grim, more so than usual. He didn’t know what he would do if Eren would die, and he really didn’t want to think about it, in all honesty. As a high ranking soldier, Levi had always been the one to watch as his comrades fell. He had been at the side of countless soldiers as they took their last breaths. He had long since gotten used to being one of the few who made it through every mission. He knew that it was his job to not be surprised when a soldier died, to just expect it and accept it when it happened.

But Eren had been different. Eren held a sense of purpose that Levi had only ever seen in himself. Levi had promised one of his fallen comrades that he would exterminate every titan, a purpose shared with Eren Yeager. While the kid was rather idiotic and easily angered, and not to mention a complete pain in the ass, Levi did not hate him the way that most people assumed he did. Eren had the capability to understand Levi’s thought process better than most people, which helped. Eren held no resentment towards Levi, even when Levi had beat the ever-loving shit out of him in the Court Trial. 

In any case, Levi refused to let Eren die. Eren was the one person in Levi’s life who could not die. It just wasn’t possible, Eren Yeager couldn’t die. Not before he had reached his one and only goal in life. Levi would make sure that Eren would live to see his goal fulfilled. 

-x-

Levi had made it into the inside of the wall. Eren was still out cold, basically deadweight on Levi’s horse. He immediately scanned for the medical officials that were always stationed near the gates of the walls; they needed to be ready to help any soldier in desperate need of care. He saw the medics around the same time that they saw him, and they met halfway to the stations set up for aiding the wounded. The eyes of the medics widened when they saw Eren. He was covered in blood; his human body had been bearing the pain that his titan body could no longer handle. There were deep gouges in his face where the titan flesh had been fusing over his cheeks up to right below his eyes. At this point, it was hard to tell if he was even breathing.

“We’ll have to go into immediate emergency surgery on him. It’s hard to tell if there’s even a chance he’ll make it, Corporal.” One of the medics told Levi while they hoisted Eren onto one of the stretchers that they used to transport the wounded. Once Eren was in the hands of the medics, Levi was asked to leave. Only the people with the highest authority (Commander Irwin and above in rank) would be allowed to see Eren as he underwent extensive surgeries to try and save him.

Corporal Levi would have to wait to see Eren.

If he would ever get to even see Eren alive, that was. 

And so Corporal Levi waited.

All Levi could do was wait back at Headquarters. All he could do was silently contemplate everything that had happened up to that point regarding Eren and himself. The medics still had no clue if they could save Eren or not, much to Levi’s frustration. 

Commander Irwin promised that he would notify Levi as soon as they knew anything.

Levi waited in a state of silence that felt like eternity.


	2. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi reflects on a couple of memories that involve Eren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it filler? Maybe. Yeah kinda sorta I just wanted to write a couple short and seemingly unrelated to anything moments I imagine would happen between Levi and Eren. So in all reality, this chapter. It wasn't necessary. At all. Oh well. It was nice to write, at least. Also, it's like. 3 a.m. or something if that's an indicator of anything.

A week and two days later, and Levi still had not received word on Eren’s condition. He had no clue whether Eren was dead or alive, or if they would be able to save him, in the circumstance that he was still hanging on. There was a slight chance that his regenerative ability would kick back in, but even the chances of that looked pretty slim. Levi was left completely in the dark about Eren’s status, although in the end, the medics weren’t entirely sure how Eren’s status was themselves.   
Every minute seemed to last for an hour for Levi. He spent the time waiting for word on Eren reflecting on their experiences they had shared since Eren had been placed under Levi’s care. 

One of the memories that often floated through Levi’s mind was one of the few moments of gentleness that they had shared. That particular instance had taken place only a few days before the mission that could have been the death of Eren. One night, Eren and Levi were the only two left in the dining room, seated next to each other on the hard wooden bench of the supper table. Eren’s exhaustion from a strenuous day of training was obvious in the way that he slouched over the table, supported by his elbows. His food bowl lay forgotten in front of him; he had only half-heartedly picked at the food, too tired to be focused on eating. The bowl was still half-full. 

Eren’s eyes were slowly shutting themselves when Levi spoke. As of late, Levi had been trying to make more of an effort to communicate with Eren; 

So, in an attempt to be friendly, Levi asked Eren, “Long day?” He watched as Eren immediately snapped back to attention at the sound of Corporal’s voice. 

Eren was reluctant to show any form of weakness around Levi, and he tried to deny his tiredness despite how obvious it was. He made an attempt to straighten himself up, and turned his head to look at Levi. “Yeah, just a bit.” Eren replied. He made an attempt to get up (most likely to find his way to his room to get some sleep), and instead ended up falling over, leaning on Levi for support to keep from falling. Eren was admittedly still only half-conscious despite having been quick to answer Levi, and it was obvious that he was not really in his correct state of mind. If anything, he just seemed kind of confused when he felt himself leaning up against Levi. He made a half-hearted attempt at straightening himself when he felt Levi’s hand against his shoulder, keeping him in place. “It’s fine, you don’t have to get up.” Levi had muttered. 

Eren’s eyes were already closed, and had fallen asleep almost immediately. Levi made no effort to move his hand. Eren’s sleeping face was very peaceful; a drastic change from the serious, almost angry expression that seemed to be his default expression. When he was sleeping, he didn’t worry about titan transformations and gaining the trust of others. Levi let the boy rest against him undisturbed for several hours, enjoying the silence and the soothing feeling of a warm body pressed against his own. Corporal Levi did not experience many tranquil moments in his life, after all.

A couple hours before dawn, Levi had gathered Eren into his arms and carried him down to the basement, where Eren was required to sleep. Him and the others had tried to make the basement a somewhat comfortable place to dwell, but the fact still remained that Eren was required to stay in a dungeon. But there was no helping it; orders were orders. 

If Eren remembered falling asleep against Levi, he didn’t show it. But Levi had a feeling Eren remembered the way he had sighed contentedly right before falling asleep. 

Another moment that Levi found himself thinking about quite a bit was one of the only times he had ever seen Eren smile. 

It had been a typical training day for Eren. Hanji, as usual, was putting Eren through a series of experiments involving utilizing his titan form. Lately most of their focus had been spent on trying to get Eren to keep control over his titan form and return back to human form with no memory loss of what happened while he was a titan. Eren had yet to succeed at this, but he had been making significant progress. Levi had never previously been able to oversee these experiments in their entirety; he was always simply too busy to dedicate the whole day to watching them. But that one day, Levi had been able to spend the day with Eren and Hanji from start to finish. 

Today’s task for Eren was simple; it was the same task Hanji had given him every day for the past week and a half. Transform into a titan and go through the obstacles controlled by Hanji (These included fake titans similar to the ones used for training the cadets, and frustrating puzzles that could end up angering Eren to the point of loss of control. These were often his downfall in the experiments). After he had busted out of his titan body’s neck, he was to give Hanji a detailed report as to everything that had happened while he was a titan to measure at what point the loss of control had occurred. Of course, that had normally been apparent in Eren’s actions as a titan, but it was still important to hear Eren’s recollections. 

That day was different than all of the others. That day, every time that Eren glanced over to where Hanji was standing scribbling notes and observations, he saw Levi standing there next to her. Normally he would have left by noon, but today he was still there. He remembered watching Eren intently with his typical piercing gaze. Levi had watched as Eren had made it through every single obstacle while still appearing to be aware of his every movement. When he reached the end, he was able to remove himself from his titan body all by himself, which was a rarity on its own (Hanji had always done this as Eren had, up to this point, always been unconscious in the end). Once Eren had appeared above the titan flesh, he had looked Levi in the eye and flashed the most brilliant smile Levi had ever seen. He hadn’t thought that Eren could smile like that. Eren had won his first victory; he had kept control for the first time. Levi had a suspicion that it had to do with the fact that he had been present the whole time. 

As Levi thought about how truly happy Eren had been that day, he found himself scowling. He resented the fact that he was thinking about such a lighthearted moment when he didn’t even know if Eren was still among the living. Levi blamed himself for Eren’s downfall. Of course, it was foolish to think that things could have gone completely differently.   
Everyone had needed Levi’s help that day, and nobody could have predicted the outcome, anyways. Levi had always truly believed that when making choices. If something went wrong, it wasn’t like there was anything that could be done about it. The choice had already been made and dwelling on it too heavily would do nothing. This was advice he had given Eren weeks ago, and yet, Levi found himself going against his own words. Dwelling on what may have happened if one action had been different was foolish.

And yet, Levi couldn’t stop. Because Eren was different than anyone else. Somewhere along the line Levi had separated Eren from everyone else in his mind. He understood death perfectly and had always accepted it as an outcome that was very likely for anybody in the Scouting Legion. But somehow Levi was unable to imagine a world without Eren. 

It finally hit Levi that it was entirely possible that Eren was dead or going to die. As much as he hated to admit it, the kid had earned a place in Levi’s heart. Very few could ever manage to do this, but somehow, Eren Yeager had become important to Corporal Levi. With a bitter laugh, Levi realized that this was exactly why he had refused to become close to anyone. Why he hadn’t allowed himself to form any sort of emotional attachment to anyone else.

Because they could be taken away at any moment. 

Eren might be gone.

At first, Levi didn’t feel the moisture on his face. It wasn’t until he lifted his hand to rub one of his eyes that he realized he had begun to cry. It had been years since Levi had shed a tear; he had forgotten how it felt to have warm tears slowly glide down one’s cheek. He certainly hadn’t missed the feeling.

Levi was angry. Angry for allowing himself to grow fond of someone like Eren. Angry for allowing himself to cry over a death that may not have even happened. But most of all, he was angry for failing to protect Eren.

He decided that once he was allowed to visit Eren (Under the assumption the medics could save him, of course) he would make sure that Eren realized exactly where Levi stood when it came to the two of them.


	3. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi is told that he can go visit Eren, and he does just that. This chapter is fluffy, yeehaw~

Exactly two weeks after Eren was taken into emergency surgery, Commander Irvin found his way to Levi. Levi snapped to attention when he saw the tall figure approaching. He could feel his body tense up a bit; the news he was about to hear would either be decent or be the worst possible scenario. Commander Irvin was still too far away to tell what the news was through his body language and facial expression, but the tall figure was unmistakably Irwin. Levi followed his every movement, waiting for Irvin to be close enough for Levi to get up and meet him halfway. 

When Irvin was only a short distance away, Levi got up from where he had been sitting the past couple of hours; he had not been needed anywhere since the last mission. Since the mission had been a great success from what they were hoping, the strategists were busy coming up with the next plan and everyone was on standby until a plan was finalized. He quickly made his way to where Irvin had stopped, knowing Levi would close the final distance himself. As soon as Levi stopped in front of him, Irvin opened his mouth to speak.

“I came to inform you that the next highest authorities below me are allowed to visit Eren as his condition is no longer critical and he is in recovery. Of course, you are included in that list of visitors allowed. Levi could feel his body instantly relax and he let out the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. Relief flooded over him; Eren was alright. He had made it to Eren in time to save him. Levi had never been quite so grateful to receive such news in his life.

“Alright. I can go see him now, then?” Levi asked, addressing his superior. 

“Of course. I’ll lead you to him.” Irvin replied gently as Levi fell in step behind him. He had known how worried Levi had been over Eren; there had been a concern in his eyes that Irvin hadn’t seen since the days that Levi and he had been involved together. Things had fallen out between the two of them, and it had been rough on both of them. Irvin was happy that Levi had obviously been able to find somebody to help fill the void in his heart. The man could use somebody to care about in the world.

The two soldiers had walked in a comfortable silence until about forty-five minutes later when they arrived to the building the medics had been using to attend to those in critical condition. It was just a run-down, shabby old building near the gates (so that they didn’t have to move the patients too far and could begin work on them sooner). Irvin spoke to the medic keeping track of who went in and out, positioned right outside of the entrance to the building. She nodded as he told her that Levi was there to visit Eren, and gave Levi a smile as he passed. He didn’t smile back, instead focusing on moving forward towards wherever in the building Eren was. Levi needed to see Eren’s face; needed to see Eren alive with his own two eyes. 

After a couple of turns and a flight of stairs, Irvin stated, “We’re here. Go ahead, Eren’s in there with one of the nurses. I’m supposed to report to a meeting with the other Commanders, so I’ll be leaving you here.” With a wave and a slight smile, Irvin turned away and began walking back to where they had come from. Levi expected the nurse already knew Levi would be arriving, but he gave a short knock before he walked in, anyways.

Eren was sitting up in bed. His nurse seemed to be rather agitated at his bedside. Eren had been focused on drinking water from a small glass when Levi had entered, and it wasn’t until he was setting the glass down that he realized he had company. When he noticed that the visitor was Corporal Levi, a look of confusion passed over his face. Levi guessed that Eren had assumed Mikasa and Armin would be his first visitors; they must not have informed him that still only a select few were allowed to see him. Or, Levi supposed it was also a possibility that Eren had just honestly not expected Levi to come visit him at any point. 

The nurse seemed to be relieved that someone else had joined them. “Thank god. The kid keeps begging to walk around and go places and be active even though he was just announced out of critical state this morning. You’re his Captain, talk some sense into him, will ya? Hey, actually, would you mind staying here for a while with him? I could use some time to deal with some of my other work. You’d be okay with that, right?” the nurse stared hopefully at Levi. She seemed to desperately want out of there for a bit. Eren had probably annoyed the living shit out of her. In all honesty, that wouldn’t have surprised Levi one bit. The kid really did tend to be a pain in the ass sometimes.

“I give you permission to leave. I won’t leave until you come back. You may take your time with your other duties.” Levi responded, and the nurse seemed overjoyed.

“Thank you so much! I’ll be back in a few hours, alright?” she replied before leaving the room.

Eren and Levi were alone now. 

Eren was the first to speak. “Hi, Corporal. Was there something you needed to talk to me about? Did something happen?”

“Everything is fine at the moment. And no, I just came to see how you were holding up.”

“You just came to visit me?” Eren once again seemed confused. He yawned; he was still rather weak and exhausted. 

“Oi, Eren, is that so difficult to believe? I’m the one who saved your ass, after all.” Levi replied disdainfully. 

Eren looked down and smiled slightly. He had missed hearing Levi’s ever-unimpressed drawl when he spoke. He hadn't seen anybody but the nurses, Commander Irvin, and all of the asshole higher-ups that wished the mission would have killed him. Yes, he had been expecting Mikasa and/or Armin to be the first friendly face he saw once he knew he would live, but he couldn’t honestly say he was disappointed that Levi was there, instead. 

“Thank you for saving me. I would be dead if you hadn’t come after me once my regeneration failed on me.”

“I know that. You’re humanity’s greatest hope, it’s not like I could have just ignored you.” Yes, it was true that he was obligated to save Eren if possible, as long as Eren was still on humanity’s side. But in the end, Levi had tried his damnedest to save Eren because he truly didn’t want to lose him. 

“For a little bit I truly thought that I was going to die. It was actually kind of terrifying; I was doing my damnedest to fight them off, and I was still in control of myself, but I just couldn’t do anything. Actually, the reason I was in control of myself the whole time and was able to kill more titans than I normally would have was because of you. Since you were around the first time I kept complete control, I was able to do it again. Because I just knew that I could do it again. But eventually, being in control didn’t matter anymore. I was completely out of power. I hadn’t realized my own mortality until that moment, and I didn’t realize how much I depend on you, Corporal, until I saw you coming for me right as I began to lose consciousness. I’m grateful to you, Corporal.” Eren looked at Levi with the most sincere look he had ever seen on Eren’s face. 

This was the moment that Levi finally completely accepted Eren into his heart. He finally admitted to himself exactly how much he cared about the boy in front of him. He was no longer angry with himself; there was no reason to dwell on the past few days and to dwell on the fact that Levi had almost been too late. The outcome had ended up fine, and that was what mattered. Eren was okay; he was his own normal self despite having spent the past two weeks undergoing heavy amounts of surgery. All Levi could feel at that point was overwhelming relief. It was as if the past couple of weeks were just a dream, as if they hadn’t really happened. 

Levi finally stepped forward and approached Eren’s bed. Eren had several large bandages covering part of his body, so Levi was extremely careful as he leaned over Eren and put his arms around him. Eren’s body automatically tensed up in surprise at the unexpected hug, but he relaxed almost immediately. His regenerative process was slowly kicking back in, but it was still going at an extremely slow rate and he was sore all over. But Levi was being as gentle as he could be, and Eren weakly but forcefully lifted his arms up and wrapped them around Levi’s back, returning the hug. 

Levi was not a person who would outwardly admit his feelings for someone (unless they were negative, in which case he really wouldn’t hesitate), but the way he was holding Eren said everything that he had left unspoken. The moment seemed to last for a blissful eternity.

Levi didn’t pull away, but he did whisper, “I’m sorry that you had to go through this.”

Eren buried his face into Levi’s shoulder. “I forgive you.” Eren responded, knowing that this was Levi’s way of apologizing for not making it to him sooner, which may have kept Eren from being in such critical condition for so long. 

“I’m going to protect you from now on. You won’t dance on the thread between life and death again under my watch.” Levi muttered, just barely loud enough for Eren to hear. Eren knew that Levi truly meant that; Levi simply didn’t say things he didn’t mean. After another moment, Levi broke the embrace and straightened back up. Once Eren was no longer supported by the strength of Levi’s arms, he slumped down in his bed. Tiredness was beginning to take a firm grip on him, and he struggled back into a laying down position. Levi noticed this, and stated, “Get some rest; you must be tired from everything.”

“I will. See you later, Corporal.” Eren replied, assuming that Levi would be gone once he woke up. As Eren began to shut his eyes, he could feel Levi leaning over him once again. But this time, what Eren felt was lips gently brushing his. Their kiss was sweet and gentle, and Eren fell asleep with a content smile on his face. 

-x-

Eren opened his eyes to a room lit only with the light of a lantern placed at his bedside table. Memories from earlier that day suddenly flooded his mind, and he was fine with that. He had seen a side of Levi that most people likely doubted could even exist within the unapproachable captain. Eren never would have thought that Levi would ever have such feelings for Eren, but Corporal never ceased to amaze him. 

He turned his head, looking for the nurse. In the chair beside his bed he didn’t find the nurse from earlier; he found Levi sitting there, focused on reading some paperwork that he either had brought with him or that he had had somebody bring him. Levi looked up when he heard Eren stir, and their eyes met. 

“Where’s the nurse? How long have I been asleep?” Eren asked, yawning.

“You’ve been out for about six hours. The nurse came back a few hours ago and I just sent her away again; she didn’t want to be here, anyways. Apparently the nurses believe you’re a bit overbearing and they say you only talk to them about wanting to leave so you can start fighting titans again. You’re quite the irritating person, Eren.” Levi replied as he took a sip from a cup that Eren guessed was filled with coffee. 

“Well, maybe if they’d just let me get up once in a while I wouldn’t have to bug them about it so much.” Eren muttered.

“You’re forgetting that you haven’t even been out of critical care for a whole day yet.”

“So? My regeneration is starting again. I can walk on my own just fine.”

“Oh, really? Well, now’s your lucky day. None of the nurses are coming back because I told them I’d watch you since I have nothing better to do, anyways. And I won’t stop you from getting up right now and walking around, so go ahead.” Levi glanced at Eren over the papers he had been going over.

“Alright, you bet I will.” Eren said. His voice was full of determination and enthusiasm. He slowly moved his legs so that they were positioned over the edge of the bed, and pushed himself up so that he was standing. Triumphantly, he moved one of his legs forward to take a step. His legs were shaking; they were still in a fair amount of pain and they were weak from lack of use. He stumbled as he took his first step, and with a cry of “Shit!” he was on his way to falling onto the cement floor. However, Levi caught him before he could even get close to hitting the floor; he knew that there was no way Eren would succeed in his little mission no matter how hard he tried. 

“And this is why you should have just listened to the goddamn nurses. Just because you’re not on your deathbed doesn’t mean you’re ready to take on the world again.” Levi hoisted Eren back onto the bed.

“Fine, whatever. Have they brought my dinner yet, by chance?” Eren was eager to change the subject, now that he had managed to look like a complete idiot in front of Levi. He had realized that a free range of motion was a bit much to expect at this point, but he had to at least try. 

“No, they were waiting for you to wake up first. I’ll go grab it if you’ll swear to stop being a stubborn dumbass.” 

“Alright.” Eren muttered, crossing his arms. 

“I’ll be right back, then.” 

As Levi fetched Eren’s food, he considered how Eren had accepted a hug and even a kiss without a second thought. The kid was something else, that was for sure. But at least Eren obviously returned Levi’s feelings. Levi also considered how powerful the two of them would be working together now. They were both powerful forces on their own; humanity’s greatest hope and humanity’s greatest soldier. Levi would make sure they would always be near each other in battle, no more of the bullshit where they spent most of the time separated. Strategically, it was better for them to be together, anyways. He would make sure to talk to Eren about strategies involving them as more of a team than previous tactics; he was sure Eren wouldn’t disagree with them. 

Levi had previously given up on being happy. After Irvin he had cut himself off from growing attached to somebody else. It was simply easier that way; besides, exterminating the titans was more important than such pointless human emotions. 

But Eren had changed that for him, and it had taken Eren almost dying for Levi to realize that. 

A few minutes later, and he was back in Eren’s room, assisting him with eating. 

That night, they talked for several hours straight. About titans, about fighting, about strategies; about anything that came to their minds. When Eren became tired, Levi kissed him goodnight, and Eren fell asleep with his hand intertwined with Levi’s. Even as the sun rose, announcing the arrival of the next day, their hands were still connected and both were resting more peacefully than they ever really had before. 

They had both found happiness in each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed writing this fic a lot as I really enjoyed the prompt it's based off, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! This fic is completed but there will be many more to come, of course~ <3 Thanks for reading!


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